Miraculous (Angel-Demon AU)

Chapter 3: Marinette

"Alya... These shoes simply weren't made for me to wear them." I insisted.

"They will be once you practice a bit!"

"What, in the three days that are left? This is going to go so wrong... Why did I accept, anyway? It's not like Adrien is suddenly going to start dating me." I puffed. This was such a big mess. I was such a big mess.

"Well, who knows? You just need the perfect scenery. Take him aside, to the park, and there, with the full moon shining above you two and nature surrounding you and setting the mood, you and your prince will share the first of many, many kisses to come."

"Alya." I stopped her, making an effort to dissolve the disturbing image which had been formed in my mind and turned my face absolutely red. "It's a freaking park. No. It's THE park. The kids' park. And there'll be new moon that night."

"So... You have checked out what moon there'll be, huh?" she poked at me in the ribs. Gosh. She was good. "Come on, buck up, girl. Take into account that Adrien hasn't ever dated a girl. He may be waiting for you to make the move." She winked at me.

I buried my burning face into my hands.

"Alya, stop it. Seriously."

I was too exhausted after having been about three hours trying every single dress, shoe (high heels, to be precise, because and only because of Alya's insistence) and tiny handbag in the mall. It's not that I didn't like fashion (I actually loved it, especially if I was the one designing things), but knowing that Adrien would see me in whatever dress I picked made them all seem horrible.

"Oh, but look who we've got here!"

Lila. And Chloé, of course. Sabrina was nowhere to be seen, which wasn't much of a surprise, either. Whenever she was out of school, Chloé went around with Lila because a) she had accepted that being near her would mean sharing her popularity and b) she'd be able to control her moves around Adrien better, all whilst pretending to be "friends", of course. The feeling was apparently mutual. Those two were meant for each other.

Oh, and reason c: They both hated me. The reason? Adrien Agreste was too nice to me for them to tolerate it. They'd been particularly irritating since yesterday, when they had found out that he was taking me (and not any of them) to the prom.

"Oh, God, you two again!" Alya blurted.

"It's okay..." I mumbled, though I wasn't in the mood for this either.

"Seems like you two have been here for quite a while, right?" Lila asked

"You better set a tent if it's a dress that suits you what you're looking for!" Chloé intervened.

I gulped. Stay calm. Stay... everyone has a good side in them, it's just that... with these two it's harder to find... much harder.

"Well, we've spent less than you, it seems, for you've been the whole week looking around for... what, exactly? Make-up that would cover up that scarecrow looks you've got? Sorry, I'm afraid to tell you there isn't enough in the mall."

It took all my strength to stop myself from laughing. It may have been wrong, but I thought about how I really loved Alya.

Chloé pretended not to have heard her at all. "You'll see. No dress can cover what you are. You'll make a fool of yourself in front of everyone and, what's even more shameful, in front of your dear Adrien."

Both burst out laughing. I started shaking. There was no right...

"Well, it's her that Adrien has chosen to go with, he must know what pair of assholes you two are, so you better go and fuck up with your last-minute choices, sure they're handsome, delightful boys, right?"

Okay, now I couldn't stop myself. I joined Alya's laughter. I didn't know anything about Lila (she had probably had more decency and preferred to go to the ball on her own), but in Chloé's case, she had been expecting Adrien to go with her until the very last minute. When she knew she'd been dumped, she asked out a boy from another class who wasn't exactly... handsome or charming in any way. He was actually an emo. I really didn't know what she was trying to prove by going with him, but it really wasn't working.

Chloé's expression suddenly turned sombre.

"You'll regret this."

And off they went.

"Have I ever told you how great you are?" I asked Alya while regaining my breath after having laughed too hard.

"A few times, but you may repeat yourself, I won't protest."

I pulled my tongue at her.

"I think I'm keeping this one." I said, finally pointing at one of the first dresses I had tried that afternoon.

"Thank God!" I suppressed a smile. "And... the shoes?" she hesitated, afraid of yet another rejection.

"Those", I pointed. They were pretty high, but not enough to be taller than Adrien. Besides, they were pretty.

"Perfect! Oh dear, you're gonna look beautiful, beautiful, Marinette! If Adrien still doesn't notice you after this I'll shoot him myself!"

I let out a faint laughter. I wouldn't have admitted I wanted Adrien to kiss me or anything but, what the heck, I was definitely going to enjoy myself. After all, one has only one life to live, right?

n